What counts as ethnography and what counts as good ethnography are both highly contested. This volume brings together chapters presenting a diversity of views on some of the current issues and practices in ethnographic methodology. It does not try to present a single coherent view but, through its heterogeneity, illustrates the strengths and impact of the debate. The collection includes chapters on the ethnographic research process; the use of photographic diaries; the idea of toleration in the research process; and the personal aspects of research. It has chapters that question generalisation; perceive ethnography as a potential form of surveillance; analyse the notion of display in ethnography; critique the way culture is commonly theorised; and examine the possibilities of comparative ethnographic work. It also includes and exchange of views between Martyn Hammersley and Barbara Korth on partisan research.

Benjamin Kidd (1858-1916), well-known for his ground-breaking application of social Darwinism in his premier work Social Evolution (1894), was a sociologist and a keen observer of nature. First published posthumously in 1921, A Philosopher with Nature is a collection of Kidd's most profound writings concerning natural habitats. Although the book is not to be considered scientific, Kidd's method of uniting biology and sociology sheds remarkable insights into the animal kingdom. This title is suitable for both students of Anthropology and Sociology.

The genealogical model has a long-standing history in Western thought. The contributors to this volume consider the ways in which assumptions about the genealogical model-in particular, ideas concerning sequence, essence, and transmission-structure other modes of practice and knowledge-making in domains well beyond what is normally labeled "kinship." The detailed ethnographic work and analysis included in this text explores how these assumptions have been built into our understandings of race, personhood, ethnicity, property relations, and the relationship between human beings and non-human species. The authors explore the influences of the genealogical model of kinship in wider social theory and examine anthropology's ability to provide a unique framework capable of bridging the "social" and "natural" sciences. In doing so, this volume brings fresh new perspectives to bear on contemporary theories concerning biotechnology and its effect upon social life.

The recital of The Book of Opening the Mouth and the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings were in use among the Predynastic Egyptians of the later part of the Neolithic Period, before the art of writing had evolved, and continued to exercise a considerable influence on Egyptian religious literature until the time of Roman Empire. The ceremonies were believed to enable the spiritual elements of the deceased to continue their existence. The object of the formulae was the reconstitution of the body and the restoration to it of the heart-soul ('Ba'). This is the first volume of The Book of Opening the Mouth, first published in 1909, which is edited from three copies written in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-sixth Dynasties respectively. It is believed they describe faithfully the forms of the rites which originated among the indigenous inhabitants of the Nile Valley.

"The book is well organized and the study follows smoothly from one chapter to the next offering a well-informed analysis of the nature-culture dichotomy on the Eastern Black Sea coast...This book's inter-disciplinary approach should make it appealing to an array of audiences from fisheries scientists and managers to environmental historians and cultural geographers." . H-Environment

..". in this] well written book Knudsen delivers an intriguing study about the meaning of the fish, the fishing activity as a way of life, and the culture of the fishermen. His ability to explain the culture and the life and hard work of Turkish fishers is outstanding." . Environmental History

Through the ethnography and history of fish production, seafood consumption, state modernizing policies and marine science, this book analyzes the role of local knowledge in the management of marine resources on the Eastern Black Sea coast of Turkey. Fishing, science and other ways of knowing and relating to fish and the sea are analyzed as particular ways of life conditioned by history, ideology and daily practice. The approach adopted here allows for a broader analysis of the role knowledge plays in the management of common pool resources (CPR) than is provided in much of the contemporary CPR debate that tends to have a somewhat narrow focus on institutions and rules. By contrast, the author argues that also local knowledge and the larger historical and ideological context of production, as manifest in state modernization policies and consumption patterns, should be taken into account when trying to explain the current management regime in Turkish Black Sea fisheries.

Stale Knudsen is Associate Professor at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen. He has spent extended periods doing fieldwork among Turkish Black Sea fishers. He is currently leading a working group on the Black Sea as part of an EU-funded project entitled "Knowledge-based Sustainable Management for Europe's Seas.""

A history of American popular taste in art, architecture, and interior decoration, with short sketches of the men and women responsible for the trends.

The English-speaking whites of South Africa participate in the larger culture of the English-speaking world while rejecting its unspoken consensual positions on many basic issues. This study analyzes texts of different kinds produced by the group to examine the way these deviant English-speakers see themselves, and particularly how this self-image is influenced by the presence of the blacks who constitute a crucial part of their perceptual field. Economically powerful but politically marginal for many years, the English-speaking whites have always been mediators of their community's experience to the world culture of the English language; the study shows how the act of mediation operates in more than one direction, producing a literary tradition that is essentially - and perhaps surprisingly - dissident.

"Postill's book will provide a stimulating read to anyone interested in the broad field of nationalism studies.a breakthrough attempt to bring nation building back on the agenda of media and communication research, and a valuable contribution to the field of media anthropology. Further comparative work in this area will hopefully give rise to a revised theory of nation building, one that acknowledges and theorizes the diversity of nation building processes, and the associated diversity of modernization projects, around the world." . H-Nation ..". very well written, lively, incisive and clear. Students will learn a lot about anthropology and media from this book... it should be recommended or essential reading for students." . Andrew Beatty, Brunel University "The book excellently traces the development of both print and electronic media, which are central in making the Iban Malaysian. It] contributes much to our understanding of the complex process of change that has occurred among the Ibans." . Asian Anthropology With the end of the Cold War and the proliferation of civil wars and "regime changes," the question of nation building has acquired great practical and theoretical urgency. From Eastern Europe to East Timor, Afghanistan and recently Iraq, the United States and its allies have often been accused of shirking their nation-building responsibilities as their attention - and that of the media -- turned to yet another regional crisis. While much has been written about the growing influence of television and the Internet on modern warfare, little is known about the relationship between media and nation building. This book explores, for the first time, this relationship by means of a paradigmatic case of successful nation building: Malaysia. Based on extended fieldwork and historical research, the author follows the diffusion, adoption, and social uses of media among the Iban of Sarawak, in Malaysian Borneo and demonstrates the wide-ranging process of nation building that has accompanied the Iban adoption of radio, clocks, print media, and television. In less than four decades, Iban longhouses ('villages under one roof') have become media organizations shaped by the official ideology of Malaysia, a country hastily formed in 1963 by conjoining four disparate territories. John Postill is a Research Fellow at the University of Bremen. He is currently studying e-government and ethnicity in Malaysia. Trained as an anthropologist at University College London, he has published a range of articles on the anthropology of media, with special reference to Malaysian Borneo.

an excellent collection that should be read by all scholars of Southeast Asia, and that should provoke more thought and research on the people whose lives and practicescontinue to connect Southeast Asian nation-states. . JRAI The literature on borders and borderlands, the state, globalization and ethnic minorities, is now huge, but the editors of this book do a good job of summarizing most of it in their introduction...This book will swiftly become a key reading in university courses dealing with borderlands and Southeast Asia. . Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde each of the studies is well worth making available and the set of them offers a useful addition to the literature on borders and migration. . Anthropos In a completely new approach to borders and border crossing, this volume suggests a re-conceptualization of the nation in Southeast Asia. Choosing an actor approach, the individual chapters in this volume capture the narratives of minorities, migrants and refugees who inhabit and cross borders as part of their everyday life. They show that people are not only constrained by borders; the crossing of borders also opens up new options of agency. Making active use of these, border-crossing actors construct their own live projects on the border in multiple ways against the original intention of the nation-state. Based on their intimate knowledge of the interaction of communities, anthropologists from Europe, the USA, Japan and Southeast Asia provide a vivid picture of the effects of state policies at the borders on these communities. Alexander Horstmann teaches Social Anthropology of Southeast Asia at the University of Munster and is a Fellow of the Study Group Islamic Culture Modern Society at the Institute of Advanced Study in the Humanities (Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut), Essen. Among his major publications include Class Culture and Space: The Construction and Shaping of Communal Space in South Thailand, Transaction, 2002. Reed L. Wadley is Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Missouri, USA. His research includes borderlands, warfare, colonialism, natural resource management and historical ecology, involving Iban communities of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Among his publications are Punitive expeditions and divine revenge: Oral and colonial histories of rebellion and pacification in western Borneo, 1886-1902, Ethnohistory (2004)."

As we enter the 21st century, it becomes increasingly difficult to envisage a world detached from religion or an anthropology blind to its study. Yet, how people become religious is still poorly studied. This volume gathers some of the most distinguished scholars in the field to offer a new perspective for the study of religion, one that examines the works of transmission and innovation through the prism of learning. They argue that religious culture is socially and dynamically constructed by agents who are not mere passive recipients but engaged in active learning processes. Finding a middle way between the social and the cognitive, they see learning religions not as a mechanism of downloading but also as a social process with its relational dimension. David Berliner is an Assistant Professor at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). He received his PhD from University of Brussels (2002). In 2001 he was a visiting PhD student at Saint Cross College, Oxford, and in 2003-2005 a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University. Ramon Sarro is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, Lisbon. He read anthropology in London (PhD 1999). In 2000-2002 he was the Ioma Evans-Pritchard Junior Research Fellow at Saint Anne's College, Oxford. His publications include Surviving Iconoclasm: Religious and Political Transformation on the Upper Guinea Coast (Edinburgh University Press, 2006)."

From apple pie to baklava, cannoli to gulab jamun, sweet treats have universal appeal in countries around the world. This encyclopedia provides a comprehensive look at global dessert culture. Few things represent a culture as well as food. Because sweets are universal foods, they are the perfect basis for a comparative study of the intersection of history, geography, social class, religion, politics, and other key aspects of life. With that in mind, this encyclopedia surveys nearly 100 countries, examining their characteristic sweet treats from an anthropological perspective. It offers historical context on what sweets are popular where and why and emphasizes the cross-cultural insights those sweets present. The reference opens with an overview of general trends in desserts and sweet treats. Entries organized by country and region describe cultural attributes of local desserts, how and when sweets are enjoyed, and any ingredients that are iconic. Several popular desserts are discussed within each entry including information on their history, their importance, and regional/cultural variations on preparation. An appendix of recipes provides instructions on how to make many of the dishes, whether for school projects or general entertaining. Discusses iconic desserts and sweet treats in their cultural and historical contexts in North and Latin America; the Caribbean; Europe; North Africa and the Middle East; Sub-Saharan Africa; Central, South, and East Asia; and the Pacific Feeds into the World Geography database and allows students of geography, social studies, language, and anthropology to examine cultural trends and make cross-cultural connections Looks at regional desserts across the United States Includes a selection of contributed family recipes from around the world to provide hands-on learning Features sidebars of interesting, fun facts and anecdotes relating to desserts and sweet treats

The vernacular architecture of the Minangkabau in Sumatra constitutes one of the most popular and well-known building traditions in contemporary Indonesia. Yet, despite its fame, Minangkabau architecture has received remarkably little scholarly attention. What is known about the building tradition does not go beyond the romanticized popular image (of high-rising roof spires, floor elevations, and colourful woodcarvings) promoted by the government, the tourist industry, and the media. This image leaves too many questions about the meaning of Minangkabau architecture unanswered. Constituting Unity and difference refines, supplements, and revises the popular image. Focusing on the construction, design, and spatial use of vernacular houses in one region of West Sumatra, and taking into account historical developments and geographical variation, the author explores how vernacular Minangkabau houses are instrumental in the constitution, perpetuation, and manipulation of socio-political relationships and identities. He concludes that the current popular image of Minangkabau architecture is seriously in need of revision.

This book constitutes a status report on health conditions (including nutrition and freshwater supply) in the Pacific Island Nations. The report is based on investigations carried out over the past decade by the Pacific Science Association and includes ethnic, demographic, historic, economic, political, climatological and ecological aspects. As such, it will serve as an important decision-making tool with respect to criteria for future development, taking into account the very special carrying capacities of the island territories concerned.

Although there has been intense interest in racial minorities and public policy, most research has focused on the implementation of policies after legislative passage or on the consequent effects of those policies. Few studies have focused on the definitional stage of the policy process--agenda setting--or have examined the way issues of concern to minority populations are raised. This volume fills that void by examining where policy issues originate and the impact of racial, ethnic, and other minority groups on the agenda setting process and the formulation of public policy. The work will be of interest to scholars in public policy, ethnic studies, government, and politics.

This unusual sociological study examines the issue of enchantment in terms of habitus and charisma. It seeks to overcome a fated notion of disenchantment in a culture of postmodernity. Crossing between theological and sociological self-understandings of culture, the study criticizes conventions of secularisation so as to defend the viability of theological forms of enchantment. Through a reading of Bourdieu, Simmel and the Swiss theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, the book attempts to supply theology with its own sociological self-understanding of religious belief and culture, but also to give to sociology a basis of theological reflexivity.

Siberia has no history of independent political existence, no claim to a separate ethnic identity, and no clear borders. Yet, it could be said that the elusive country 'behind the Urals' is the most real and the most durable part of the Russian landscape. For centuries, Siberia has been represented as Russia's alter ego, as the heavenly or infernal antithesis to the perceived complexity or shallowness of Russian life. It has been both the frightening heart of darkness and a fabulous land of plenty; the 'House of the Dead' and the realm of utter freedom; a frozen wasteland and a colourful frontier; a dumping ground for Russia's rejects and the last refuge of its lost innocence. The contributors to Between Heaven and Hell examine the origin, nature, and implications of these images from historical, literary, geographical, anthropological, and linguistic perspectives. They create a striking, fascinating picture of this enormous and mysterious land.

Why did the ancient artists create paintings and engravings? What did the images mean? This careful study of rock art motifs in the Trans-Pecos area of Texas and a small area in South Africa demonstrates that there are archaeological and anthropological ways of accessing the past in order to investigate and explain the significance of rock art motifs. Using two disparate regions shows the possibility of comparative rock art studies and highlights the importance of regional studies and regional variations. This is an ideal resource for students and researchers.

Heikki Mikkeli charts the history of the idea of Europe and European identity. The first part introduces the various attempts to unify Europe from antiquity to the European Union. In the second part the relationship of Europe with America and Russia is considered, as well as the ambivalent role of Central Europe. The possibility of a common European identity is also discussed; a theme which may have an impact on the ways European history is written in the future.

Ethnobiology and ethnoecology have become very popular in recent years. Particularly in the last 20 years, many manuals of methods have published the most classical approaches to the subject. There have been, however, many advances in research as a result of interaction with different disciplines, but also due to more recent results, new original and interesting questions. This handbook provides the current state of the art methods and techniques in ethnobiology and ethnoecology, and related fields. This new volume, besides bringing new and original aspects of what is found in the literature, fills some of the gaps in volume one by including the most systematic and extensive treatment of methods and techniques in qualitative research. Along with the various methods covered in the individual chapters, the handbook also includes an extensive bibliography that details the current literature in the field.

Today, all industrialized states are multinational. However, as Political Sociologist Feliks Gross points out, there remains considerable debate and experimentation on how to organize a multiethnic, democratic, and humane state. Gross examines various types of multiethnic states as well as their early origins and prospects for success. In the past, minorities were usually formed as a consequence of conquest or migration; minorities tended to have an inferior status, subordinated to the ruling, dominant ethnic class.

While Athens provides an early example of a state formed by alliance and association, the Romans advanced this concept when they extended to subjected peoples the status by means of citizenship. After the fall of Rome, citizenship continued in Italian and other continental cities. In England, subjectship associated with individual freedom had native roots. The American and French Revolutions revived and created the modern definition of citizenship. Along with Rome, however, only the United States provides an example of a successful multiethnic state of continental dimensions.

In the current model of health dispensation in South Africa there are two major paradigms, the spirit-inspired tradition of izangoma sinyanga and biomedicine. These operate at best in parallel, but more often than not are at odds with one another. This book, based on the author's personal experience as a practitioner of traditional African medicine, considers the effects of the absence of spirit in biomedicine on collaborative relationships. Given the unprecedented challenge of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country, the author suggests that more cooperation is vital. Taking a critical look at the role of anthropology in this endeavor, she proposes the development of a "language of spirit" by means of which the spirit-inspired aetiology of izangoma sinyanga may be made comprehensible to academic scientists and applicable to medical interventions. The author discusses white izangoma in the context of current debates on healing and hybridity and insists that there exists a powerful role for izangoma in the realm of societal healing. Above all, the book constitutes a start in what the author hopes will develop into an ongoing intellectual conversation between traditional African healing, academe, and biomedicine in South Africa.

Based on three years of ethnographic research with Bruce Springsteen fans, and informed by the author's own experiences as a fan, Tramps Like Us is an interdisciplinary study of the ways in which ordinary people form special, sustained attachments to Bruce Springsteen and his music and how those attachments function in people's daily lives to create meaning, shape identity, and create community. An insider's narrative about Springsteen fans -- who they are, what they do, and why they do it -- it is also about the phenomenon of fandom in general. The text moves back and forth between fans' stories and ideas and the author's own anecdotes, commentary, and analysis. Cavicchi argues that music fandom is a useful and meaningful behaviour that enables people to shape identity, create community, and make sense of the world.

Drawing on official sources in the Russian language, this book presents new factual information about Russian society before and after the attempted coup of August 1991.

Peter Worsley's studies at Cambridge were interrupted by war service as a communist officer in the colonial forces in Africa and India, which got him interested in anthropology. He then went into mass education in Tanganyika, studied with Max Gluckman at Manchester, and won the Curl Prize of the Royal Anthropological Institute, but, in the McCarthy epoch, was banned from Africa, so went to Australia where he was again banned, this time from New Guinea, but did field-research for his Ph.D. on an Australian Aboriginal tribe. His subsequent book on 'Cargo' cults in Melanesia is now regarded as a classic, but his left-wing politics ensured that he could not get a job in anthropology, so he switched to sociology, returning to Manchester as the first Professor of Sociology, just in time to join a British Government Mission to Tanzania - and to be deeply involved in the student revolution. His book on The Third World introduced that term into the English language, while the Penguin edition of Introducing Sociology sold over half a million copies. He went to China a few months after Nixon. On retirement as Professor Emeritus of the University of Manchester, he taught in New York, where he wrote Knowledges.